• Faba Beans
• Soil Health
• University of Saskatchewan

Objective

To evaluate superior Rhizobia strains identified from a previous project in the field over two years for effective nodulation and to compare the nitrogen (N) fixation ability to three commercial pea/lentil inoculants.

Outcome

This study field tested two strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum that were previously identified from a laboratory study, at two sites in each of two years. In all cases the faba bean inoculated with the bacterial strains fixed more nitrogen than faba bean inoculated with water or heatkilled bacteria. While the improved nitrogen fixation did not always translate into higher yields, it does mean that more nitrogen is left in the soil for other crops in the crop rotation. There is potential to develop one or both of these strains into commercial inoculants that are adapted to Saskatchewan soils, giving farmers flexibility in inoculants for faba bean crops.

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